Continous-film kinetoscope.



C. B GILLESPIE. CONTINUOUS FILM KINBTosGoPB. APPLICATION FILED JULY 17,1908.

921,537. Patented May 11, 1909.

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Witnaoaeo C. B. GILLESPIB. CONTINUOUS HLM KINETOSGOPE. APPLICATION FILEDJULY 17, 1908.

Patented May 11, 1909. 2f/T09. 15.

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CHARLES B. GILLESPIE, OF BDGEULLE GRNERS, OHIO.

@NTI-N GUS-FILM KIETOSGQPE.

Specieation of Letters I'atent.

Patented May 11, 1.909.

Application aies my 17, isos. semi No. 444.089.

To whom 'it may concern:

1 3e1t known that I, Clientes B. GILLESPIE, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and a resident of Ridgeville Corners, Henry county,in the State of; Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement inOontnuou- Film Kinetoscopes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to' the feed and take-up reels of thosekinetoscopes or moving-'picture machines in which a continuous film isfed from one reel to another in the operation of the machine; and itrelates more particularly to means by which the film may be drawn fromthe interior 0,1' middle convolution of the film roll in the feed reel,and restored to the feed reel without rewinding.

The leading object of the present invention is to construct a simple andeffective pair of reels with appurtenances adapted tooperate on thatprinciple, and which can be substituted for the ordinary reels of-moving picture machines now in use, and manipulated by operatives ofordinary skill.

Another object is to so construct the improved reels that each of them,and es ecially the peculiar feed reel, may be inclosed m a fireproofmagazine 1, and protected by a suitable trap against destruction by firein case of accident.

Uther objects will be set forth in the general description whichfollows:

The invention consists in certain novel combinations of parts, and in acontinuous film kinetoscope or moving-.picture machine embodying suchcombinations or any .of them, as hereinafter described and claimed.

TWO sheets lof drawings accompany this specification as parts thereof.

Figure 1 is a side view artly in section representing the generalcombination of parts Fig. 2 is a top view on a larger scale of the sentsa vertical section .on the line A-B, Fig. 2; Fig. 4 represents avertical section .on the line CFD, Fig. 1, and on the same scale asFigs. 2 and 3, through the take-up reel in its Winding condition; Fig. 5is a perspective view of the transferring portion of the takeup reeldetached and empty; Fig. 6 repre.- sents a cross section through one ofthe plush covered feed rolls hereinsfterd oscri bed and Fig. 7 is a sideview of a substitute feed rell illustrating a modification.

in all the figures.

Said gener-al combination of parts, Fig. 1, includes a icture projectinglantern, c, and a feed mec anism, b, which may be of any knownorixnproved forms to which the improved reels, c and d, are or may beappli- Gable, including those of machines now in use; a frame, e, commonto said lantern and feed mechanism, and which can he tilted to supportsaid lantern and food mechanism at any required angle; a feedreelsupporting bracket, f, having sections l and 2, connected with eachother by a clamp. hinge, 3, having a transverse horizontal axis, so asto provide for keeping the axis of the feed reel c vertical when saidframe e is tilted; and magazines, q and h, inclosng the res ectivereels. Said Afeed reel c has a rotate le annular main portion, 4,adapted to turn as required under the tension and edge contact of thefilm, i, itself', and a non-rotary hub portion, 5, around which saidmain portion revolves. The huh portion 5 is su ported upon the' outersection 2 of said lbracket f, and is preferably and convenientlyprovided forthis purpose with a central socket, 6, and a clamp screw, 7,to interact with a vertical stem, j, interposed between said bracket j"and the reel; the lower end of said stern being fxcdly held in a socket,8, in said bracket by a clamp screw, 9. This construction provides foradjusting said hub portion .5 of thc reel with reference to thedirection of film guiding means carried by said hub portion, so that thefilm i will be guided in a straight and direct line to the customarytoothed feed rolls 1() 11 and l1 of the feed mechanism b. Said mainportion 4 of the feed reel is constructed with a central bearing, 12,which interacts with said stein j, and with a circular depression, 13,in its horizontal floor surface, 4J, feed reel and its appurtenances;Fig. 3 iepre- .concentric with said bearing, within which the upperdisk, 14, .of said hub portion' fits flush, as shown in Fig. 3, butloose enough to offer no frictional resistance to the rotation of saidmain portion, which is intended to be entirely free and self-regulatingin touch with the iilm i. Said main portion 4 is further constructedwith a rim, 15, at its perimeter, giving the feed reel c the form of anopentopped pan; said rim surrounding the floor surface 4 upon which thefilm roll rcs-ts within the feed reel, and operating to prevent the-film roll; and a superposed inclined support,

17, carries the spindles 18, 19, of a pair of delivery rolls, 18' and19.', which are thus supported at an oblique an le with reference tosaid vertical rolls 16'. n end guard, 2`0, is attached to the top of thespindle 18 ,of the lower roll, and a guard finger, 21, parallel with theu per roll 19', is carried by the upper end o 'the support 17. Saidvertical rolls 16 maintain a substantially uniform diameter at the innercircumference of the film roll," and the film is therefore drawn fromthis circumference under substantially uniform strain whatever length offilm may remain in the roll. With the aid of said end guard 20 and saidguard finger 21, saiddelivery rolls 18' and 19' direct the film i awayfrom the interior of. the film roll and upward above the plane of thereel rim 15, and twist the film just enough to make it pass therefromwithout'torsional strain between a air of horizontafrolls, 22 and 23,Fig. 1. aid horizontal rolls 22 and 23 are conveniently and preferablythose of an automatic trap, and in the improved machine are su portedrespectively within the body, 24, an within the lid, 25, of thefeed-roll magazine, g, on'

the res ective sides of the horizontal or substantia ly horizontalparting joint between said .body'24 and lid 25, at the outlet of themagazine. Owing to this arrangement, the film can be simply laid uponthe lower roll 22 when the magazine is. open, without the customarythreading operation, and the upper roll 23 is pressed down upon ,thefilm when the lid 25 is closed. Otherwise the trap may be of known orimproved construc-` tion.

The take-up reel d is of the peculiar construction' best shown in Figs.4 and 5, which see. This reel d is adapted to be substituted for theordinary take-up reel u on a spindle, 26, driven through a air of puleys, 27 and 28, and a connecting and, 29, wlth their knownappurtenances, from said feed mechanism, b. a pair of disks, 30', 30',and a pair of hub portions, 31, 31', of which said disk 30 and said hubportion 31 are united with each other and made fast on said spindle 26,and

The reel, d, is composed of.

said disk 30 and said hub portion 31' are united with each other andconstitute the main elements of a detachable portion of the reel,segregated by Fig. 5. Said hub portion 31 is constructed with a pair ofattaching lips, 32, by either of which the takeup end of the film isattached; d this hub portion, 31', embraces the inne hub portion, 31,tightly enough to cause the detachable portion of the reel "andtherewith the film rllihe'reon to rotate with said inner hub ortion andwith said spindle 26. A handfii, 33, attached externally to said disk30' provides for conveniently manipulating said detachable portion ofthe take-up reel to transfer the film roll from the latter to the feedreel c. A slight taper of said hub portion 31' facilitates the escape ofthe film roll therefrom; internal contacts, 31"', steady said taperinghub ortion 31 on the cylindrical periphery'othe inner hub portion 31;and a pair `of thumb holes, 3.4, adjacent to the ends of said handle 33in saiddisk 30' ,and hub portion 31' provide for ejecting the film roll,should it stick, by the pressure of the thumb of the hand grasping saidhandle 33, whichever endof the latter may be toward the thumb. Aftertransferring a film roll, the take up end of the film is again attachedto vsaid hub 31 by one of its lips 32; the detachable portion is thenreplaced to complete the take-up reel d, and the magazine h of this reelis again closed. This magazine, h, may be wholly of known construction,and therefore requiresno description.

The inner section, 1, of the bracket f is flanged an'd notched 'forattachment to an upright portion of said lframe e by a pair of clampbolts, 35, Fig. 1, such as haveheretofore lbeenemployed for attachingthe bracket of a different feed reel.

v'The contact rolls 16', 18 and 19 within the feed reel c are preferablyin common made of wood with a covering, 36, Fig. 6, of soft plush orvelvet. Instead they may be made of metal with rings, 37 and 38, Fig.

7, at their res ective ends, to contact with the perforated e ges of thefilm, and a contracted waist portion, 39, to clear the figured portionof the film. The number of these rolls ma willy; one each of theattaching lips 32 and thumb holes`34 of the take-up reel d may beomitted; and other like modifications will suggest themselves to thoseskilled in the art.

Having thus described said improvement, I claim as my invention, anddesire to patent under this specification:

1. The combination with the lantern and feed mechanism of acontinuous-film kinetosco e and a frame com-mon thereto, of a feed reehaving a vertical axis, means for guiding the film from the interior ofa film roll suported by said'reeLand adjustable means or supporting theaxis of said feed reel, said, supporting means being adjustable on atransverse horizontal axis for keeping saidl axis of the feed reelvertical when said frame is tilted.

2. The-combination with the lantern and feed mechanism of acontinuous-film kinetosco e of a feed reel having a vertical axis andinc osed within`a magazine having a subobviously be increased ordiminished atlll lli

`vided with means for guiding the film from ro ls, a uard su ported atthe top of the tlie interior of the film roll o r its middleconvolution.

4. In a continuous-film kinetoscope, a feed i'eel having a' verticalaxis and a horizontal floor, `and comprising a rotatable annular mainportion and a non-rotary hub portion, the latter rovided with a circularseries of vertical rolls adapted to contact with the interior of thefilm roll and to determine its internal circumference, a pair ofdelivery rolls supported parallel with each other at an obli ue angle:with reference to said vertical l 1 l l y l i i i l i l l i i lower divery ro and a guard finger parallel with the upper delivery roll.

5. In a continuous film kinetoscope, a feed reel in the form of anopen-topped pan having a vertical axis,I a horizontal floor and acircumferential'rim, and composed of a rotatable annular main portionand a nonrotary hub portion, the latter provided with i means fordetermining the inner' circumference of the film roll and for deliveringthe film from the interior of the film roll.

6. In combination with a feed reel having a vertical axis and ahorizontal floor and pro- .j

vided with inea'zis for delivering a continuous film from the interioro`f-a film roll therein, a

f spool-shaped take-up reel having a horizontal axis and constructedwith a detachable portion comprising one disk of the reel and a hubportion united therewith, said detachable portion being adapted totransfer the film roll from thetake-up reel to tliefeed reel withoutrewinding.

7. In a continuous-film kinetoscope, a

spool-shaped take-up reel having a horizontal axis and constructed witha detachable transferring portion comprising one disk of the reel and ahub portion united therewith,

said detachable portion being provided with a handle attached to theouter side of its disk and a thumb hole adjacent to such handle tofacilitate pushing the film roll off its hub.

8. In conibin ation with a take-up reel having a horizontal axis, a feedreel having a vertical axis and a horizontal floor and provided withmeans for determining the inner circumference of a film roll therein andfor delivering the film from the interior of such filin roll, said meansincluding rolls having peripheral surfaces to contact with the filniformed by roll coverings of soft plush, substantially as hereinbeforespecified.

' CHARLES B. GILLESPIE. Witnesses:

JAS. L. EwiN, M. H. YA'rEs.

